Perp DEX With Zero Maker Fees (2026)
Short answer: For perp dex with zero maker fees, DESK leads our ranking with -1 bps (maker fee). This ranking uses recorded venue fees, limits, and editorial scores.
Perp DEX With Zero Maker Fees — ranked by maker fee
| # | Protocol | Maker fee | Fee model | Max lev | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DESK | -1 bps | -0.01% / 0.017% | 1000x | 7.8/10 |
| 2 | Hotstuff | -0.2 bps | -0.002% / 0.025% | 50x | 5.5/10 |
| 3 | GRVT | -0 bps | -0% / 0.045% | 50x | 7/10 |
| 4 | Lighter | 0 bps | 0% / 0% | 50x | 7.5/10 |
| 5 | Aster | 0 bps | 0% / 0.04% | 200x | 7.5/10 |
| 6 | Paradex | 0 bps | 0% / 0% | 50x | 7.5/10 |
| 7 | Extended | 0 bps | 0% / 0.025% | 100x | 7/10 |
| 8 | Hibachi | 0 bps | 0% / 0.045% | 30x | 6.5/10 |
| 9 | Variational | 0 bps | 0% / 0% | 50x | 7.5/10 |
| 10 | Orderly Network | 0 bps | 0% / 0.03% | 50x | 7.8/10 |
Ranked from the PerpFinder venue registry. Open a venue review for its recorded review date. For order-book venues, the cost comparison tool estimates the trading fee, half-spread, and slippage. Funding costs are separate. Check funding rates for the market and holding period.
What a maker fee actually is
When you place a limit order that sits in the book and waits to be filled, you are a maker. You are adding liquidity. When you place a market order or a limit order that fills immediately, you are a taker. You are removing liquidity.
Maker fees reward limit-order traders. Taker fees charge them. A negative maker fee — a rebate — means the venue pays you for every limit order that gets filled. DESK pays -1 bps on every filled maker order. Place a limit order for a $100,000 BTC position, get filled, and earn $10 back. That is before you capture any spread between your limit price and market price.
The zero-maker-fee ranking includes only venues with a real maker/taker schedule. DESK has a negative maker rate, and GRVT publishes a maker rebate. Lighter, Paradex, and Orderly Network publish zero maker fees at their stated base tiers. Jupiter is excluded because it uses position fees instead of maker and taker fees.
Who benefits from maker rebates
Market makers. Traders who quote both sides — bids and offers — earn the rebate on each filled side. On DESK at -1 bps, a market maker filling $10 million monthly in two-sided flow earns $1,000 in rebates from the maker program alone, before any spread income. For a professional quoting operation, the venue's maker rebate is a direct line item in the P/L.
Limit-order-only traders. Some systematic strategies only enter on limit orders, never on market orders. If you exclusively use limit orders for entry and close positions only when filled, a maker rebate turns your execution cost negative. Every fill earns money from the venue on top of any strategy return. This is an unusual dynamic in perp markets and only a handful of venues offer it.
The catch with maker rebates
Maker rebates are cheap to offer when volume is low. A venue earning 5 bps in taker fees can afford to give 1 bps back to makers and still keep 4 bps net per traded dollar. DESK's model: -1 bps maker, +1.75 bps taker = 0.75 bps net per two-sided dollar. That is a thin margin. It works with sufficient taker-side volume. If taker volume falls, the rebate is harder to sustain.
Lighter charges no trading fee on standard accounts. Its published premium base tier starts at 0.0040% maker and 0.0280% taker before LIT-staking discounts, in exchange for premium order-priority and latency parameters. Fee schedules can change, so confirm the current official trading-fee table before choosing an account type.
Pick zero-maker-fee venues if...
You run a systematic strategy using limit orders exclusively. Model your monthly volume at /tools/fee-calculator — the difference between 0 bps and 4 bps maker computes quickly and the savings are real.
You are a market maker looking for rebate income. DESK's -1 bps and GRVT's -0.01 bps base maker rates are two tracked rebates. Both venues are smaller than Hyperliquid, so you must check depth before you quote. A rebate can add to spread income, but it cannot replace it.
Skip this page if...
You trade on market orders. Maker fees are irrelevant for taker flow. Your cost is the taker fee regardless of what the venue charges makers. See the recorded taker fee table, or the full perp listing which shows both maker and taker fees side by side for every venue PerpFinder tracks.